[1] A large assembly of the Saints met at the temple & was addressed by President Joseph Smith upon one of the most important & interesting subjects ever presented to the saints & the principles presented were of the greatest importance to be understood it was as follows the work & calling & spirit of Elias, Elijah, & Mesiah The following is a synopsis of the discourse

Their is a differance between the spirit & office of Elias & Elijah it is the spirit of Elias [2] I wish first to speak of. And in order to come at the subject I will bring some of the testimony from the scripture & give my own, in the first place suffice it to say I went into the woods to inquire of the Lord by prayer his will concerning me—& I saw an angel & he laid his hands upon my head & ordained me to be a priest after the order of Aaron€ [3] & to hold the keys of this priesthood which office was to preach repentance & Baptism for the remission of sins & also to baptise but was informed that this office did not extend to the laying on of hands for the giving of the Holy Ghost that that office was a greater work [4] & was to be given after wards but that my ordination was a preparetory work or a going before which was the spirit of Elias for the spirit of Elias was a going before to prepare the way for the greater, which was the Case with John the Baptist he Came balling through the wilderness prepare ye the the way of the Lord & make his paths strait [5] & they were informed if they Could receive it it was the spirit of Elias [6] & John was vary particular to tell the people He was not that light but was sent to bear witness of that light, He told the people that his mission was to preach repentance & baptize with water, [7] but it was he that should Come after him that should baptise with fire & the Holy Ghost [8] if he had been an imposture he might have gone to work beyound, his bounds & undertook to have performed ordinances that did not belong to that office & calling under the spirit of Elias. The spirit of Elias is to prepare the way for a greater revelation of God which is the priesthood of Elias or the Priesthood that Aaron was ordained unto. And when God sends a man into the world to prepare for a greater work holds the keys of the power of Elias it was called the doctrin of Elias even from the early ages of the world. [9] John,s mission was limited to preaching & Baptizing but what he done was legal & when Jesus Christ Came to any of John,s deciples He baptized them with fire & the Holy Ghost, we find the Apostles endowed with greater power than John their office was more under the spirit & power of Elijah than Elias. In the Case of Philip when he went down to Samaria was under the spirit of Elias he baptised both men & women, when Peter & John herd of it they went down & lade hands on them & they received the Holy Ghost this shows the distinction between the two powers. [10] when paul came to Certain Deciples He asked if they had received the Holy Ghost they said no, who baptized you then we were Baptizd unto Johns Baptism No John did not baptized you for he did his work right, & so Paul went & baptized them for He knew what the true doctrin was & he knew that John Had not Baptised them, [11] & these principles and [it] is strange to me that men who have red the scriptures of the New Testament are so far from it. What I want to impress upon your minds is, the difference of power in the different parts of the Priesthood, so that when any man comes among you saying I have the spirit of Elias you can know whether he be true or fals, for any man that comes having the spirit & power of Elias he will not transend his bounds, John did not transend his bound but faithfully performed that part belonging to his office, and evry portion of the great building should be prepared right & assigned to its proper place, [12] & it is necessary to know who holds the keys of power & who dont, or we may be likely to be decieved, That person who holds the keys of Elias hath a preparitory work, But if I spend much more time in conversing about the spirit of Elias I shall not have time to do justice to the spirit & power of Elijah, this is the Elias spoken of in the last days & here is the rock upon which many split thinking the time was past in the days of John & Christ & no more to be, but the spirit of Elias was revealed to me & I know it is true therefore I speak with boldness for I know varily my doctrin is true. Now for Elijah, the spirit power & calling of Elijah is that ye have power to hold the keys of the revelations ordinances, oricles powers & endowments of the fulness of the Melchezedek Priesthood [13] & of the Kingdom of God on the Earth & to receive, obtain & perform all the ordinances belonging to the Kingdom of God even unto the sealing of the hearts of the hearts fathers unto the children & the hearts of the children unto the fathers even those who are in heaven. [14] Malachi says I will send Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come & He shall turn the hearts of the Fathers to the Children and the hearts of the Children to the Fathers lest I come & smite the earth with a Curse, Now what I am after is the knowledge of God & I take my own Course to obtain it, what are we to understand by this in the last days, in the days of Noah God destroyed the world by a flood & has promised to destroy it by fire in the last days [15] but before it took place Elijah should first come & turn the hearts of the Fathers to the Children &c now comes the point what is this office & work of Elijah, it is one of the greatest & most important subjects that God has revealed, He should send Elijah to seal the children to the fathers & fathers to the Children, Now was this merely confined to the living to settle difficulties with families on earth, by no means, it was a far greater work Elijah what would you do if you was here would you confine confine your work to the living alone. No I would confine refer you to the scriptures whare the subject is manifest, i.e, without us they could not be made perfect, nor we without them, [16] the fathers without the children nor the children without the fathers. I wish you to understand this subject for it is important & if you will receive it this is the spirit of Elijah that we redeam our dead & connect ourselves with our fathers which are in heaven & seal up our dead to come forth in the first resurrection & here we want the power of Elijah to seal those who dwell on earth to those which dwell in heaven this is the power of Elijah & the keys of the Kingdom [17] of Jehovah. Let us suppose a case; suppose the great God who dwells in heaven should reveal himself to Father Cutler [18] here by the opening heavens and tell him I offer up a decree that whatsoever you seal on earth with your decree I will seal it in heaven, [19] you have power then, can it be taken of[f] No, Then what you seal on earth by the Keys of Elijah is sealed in heaven, & this is the power of Elijah, & this is the difference between the spirit & power of Elias and Elijah, for while the spirit of Elias is a forerunner the power of Elijah is sufficient to make our calling & Election sure, [20] & the same doctrin whare we are exhorted to go on unto perfection not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works but of laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead &c. [21] we cannot be perfect without the fathers, &c [22] we must have revelations then & we can see that the doctrin of revelation as far transcends the doctrin of no revelation as knowled[g]e is above ignorance for one truth revealed from heaven is worth all the sectarian notions in exhistance. This spirit of Elijah was manifest in the days of the Apostles in delivering certain ones to the buffitings of Satan that they may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus, they were sealed by the spirit of Elijah unto the damnaton of Hell untill the day of the Lord or revealtion of Jesus Christ [23] Here is the doctrin of Election that the world have quarreled so much about, but they do not know any thing about it, The doctrin that the Prysbeterians & Methodist have quarreled so much about once in grace always in grace, or falling away from grace I will say a word about, they are both wrong, truth takes a road between them both. for while the Presbyterian says once in grace you cannot fall the Methodist says you can have grace to day, fall from it to morrow, next day have grace again & so follow it, but the doctrin of the scriptures & the spirit of Elijah would show them both fals & take a road between them both for according to the scriptures if a man has receive the good word of God & tasted of the powers of the world to come if they shall fall away it is impossible to renew them again, seeing they have Crucified the son of God afresh & put him to an open frame shame [24], so their is a possibility of falling away you could not be renewed again, & the power of Elijah Cannot seal against this sin, for this is a reserve made in the seals & power of the priesthood, [25] I will make evry doctrin plain that I present & it shall stand upon a firm bases And I am at the defiance of the world for I will take shelter under the broad sheler cover of the wings of the work in which I am ingaged, it matters not to me if aIl hell boils over I regard it ownly as I would the crackling of thorns under a pot A murderer; for instance one that sheds innocent Blood Cannot have forgiveness, David sought repentance at the hand of God Carefully with tears, but he could ownly get it through Hell, he got a promise that his soul should not be left in Hell, [26] Although David was a King he never did obtain the spirit & power of Elijah & the fulness of the Priesthood, [27] & the priesthood that he received [28] & the throne & kingdom of David is to be taken from him & given to another by the name of David in the last days, raised up out of his linage [29] Peter refered to the same subject on the day of pentecost, [30] but the multitude did not get the endowment that Peter had but several days after the people asked what shall we do, Peter says I would ye had done it ignorantly speaking of crucifying the Lord &c He did not say to them repent & be baptized for the remission of your sins but he said repent therefore & be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, Acts iii, 19 this is the case with murderers they could not be baptized for the remission of sins for they had shed innocent Blood.

Again the doctrin or sealing power of Elijah is as follows if you have power to seal on earth & in heaven then we should be Crafty, the first thing you do go & seal on earth your sons & daughters unto yourself, & yourself unto your fathers in eternal glory, & go ahead and not go back, but use a little Craftiness & seal all you can; & when you get to heaven tell your father that what you seal on earth should be sealed in heaven [31] I will walk through the gate of heaven and Claim what I seal & those that follow me & my Council The Lord once told me that what I asked for I should have, [32] I have been afraid to aske to ask God to kill my enemies lest some of them should peradventure should repent I asked a short time, since for the Lord to deliver me out of the hands of the Govornor of Missouri & if it must needs be to accomplish it to take him away, & the next news that Came pouring down from their, was Governor Reynolds had shot himself, [33] and I would now say beware O earth how you fight against the Saints of God & shed innocent Blood, for in the days of Elijah his enemies came upon him & fire was Called down from heaven & destroyed them, [34] the spirit of Elias is first Elijah second, & Masiah last. Elias is a fore runner to prepare the way, & the spirit & power of Elijah is to come after holding the keys of power building the Temple to the Cap stone, placing the seals of the Melchezedeck priesthood [35] up on the house of Israel & making all things ready then Mesiah comes to his Temple which is last of all. Mesiah is above the spirit & power of Elijah, for he made the world & was that spiritual rock unto Moses in the wilderness. [36] Elijah was to come & prepare the way & build up the kingdom before the coming of the great day of the Lord Although the spirit of Elias might begin it, I have asked of the Lord concerning his coming & while asking, the Lord gave me a sign & said in the days of Noah I set a bow in the heavens as a sign & token that in any year that the bow should be seen the Lord would not come, but their should be seed time—harvest during that year, but when ever you see the bow withdraw, it shall be a token that their shall be famin pestilance & great distress among the nations. [37] But I take the responsibility upon myself to prophesy in the name of the Lord, that Christ will not come this year as [William] Miller [38] has prophecyed, for we have seen the bow. And I also Prophecy in the name of the Lord that Christ will not Come in forty years & if God ever spake by my mouth he will not come in that length of time & Jesus Christ never did reveal to any man the precise time that he would come, [39] go & read the scriptures & you cannot find any thing that specified the exact [time] he would come & all that say so are fals teachers. Their are some important things concerning the office of the Mesiah in the organization of the worlds which I will speak of hereafter. [40] May God Almighty bless you & pour out his spirit upon you is the prayer of your unworthy servant Amen.

James Burgess Notebook

Showing the difference between the Spirit of Elias, Elijah and the messiah.

J Smith P[rophet].

of the spirit of Elias I must go back to the time at Susquehannah river when I retired in the woods pouring out my soul in prayer to Almighty God. [41] An Angel came down from heaven and laid his hands upon me and ordained me to the power of Elias and that authorised me to babtise with water unto repentance. It is a power or a preparatory work for something greater. you have not power to lay on hands for the gift of the holy ghost but you shall have power given you hereafter, that is the power of the Aronick preisthood. [42] this is the power which John the babtist was clothed with when he came bounding out of the wilderness saying repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is come unto you or is at hand, For there standeth one among you whose shoes latchett I am not worthy to unloose. he has greater power than I have he will babtise you with fire and with the holy ghost. [43] Jesus said of John this is Elias which was for to come if you will receive me otherwise he cannot do the work of an Elias, for Elias is preparatory for something greater to prepare my way before me I have power to restore all things and establish my kingdom amongst you, but if you will not receive me and my doctrine, he is not that Elias which was for to come for he cannot accomplish that for which he was sent, see 1st chap of John 19 to 22 verse for he confessed that he was not Elias why because they would not receive him that was coming after him namely Christ. Philip was clothed with the power of Elias when he went to samaria he could babtise for remission of sins, but could not lay on hands for the gift of the holy ghost, but sent for Peter and John who had the power of Elijah &c [44] Acts 19 chap Paul when he came to Corinth found certain diciples and asked them if they had received the holy ghost since they bleived, and they said we have not so much as heard of the holy ghost and with what surprise says he unto them. unto what were you babtised and they said unto Johns babtism. not so not so my friends if you had you would have heard of the holy ghost but you have been duped by some designing knave who has come in the name of John an imposture. how do you know it Paul why John verilly babtised with water unto repentance, always telling the people that they should beleive on him that should come after him. he would babtise with fire and with the holy ghost. Johns babtism stood good but these had been babtised by some imposture. The spirit of Elijah is to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers lest I come and smite the earth with a curse [45] the babtism for the dead and the ordinances that is to be administered by us for them for paul says that they without us cannot be made perfect neither can we without them be made perfect. [46] Now we come to talk about election a great deal is said about it. one way or another. The prespetary says once in grace always in grace, the methodist says once in grace can fall from grace and be renewed again. there is some truth in both of these statements Paul says in the 6 chap of hebrews that after arriving at a certain knowledge and then fall away it is impossible to renew them again, well paul the prespratarian says once in grace always in grace I say it is not so the methodist says once in grace can fall from grace and be renewed again I Paul say it is impossible seeing that they crucify to themselves the son of God afresh and put him to an open shame.

Make your calling and election sure go on from grace to grace untill you obtain a promise from God for yourselves that you shall have eternal life. this is eternal life to know God and his son Jesus Christ, it is to be sealed up unto eternal life and obtain a promise for our posterity. [47] Whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, this is the power of Elijah to seal or bind or turn the hearts of the fathers to their children sealed against all sin but the sin of sheding innocent blood and the Sin against the holy ghost. David was one of the promised seed yet he was guilty of murder see Acts Chap 2&3 other sins will go to judgement before hand. [48]

Joseph Smith prophet.

Revelation given through Joseph Smith in answer to a certain question Son of Man if you live untill you are 85 years of age you shall see the face of the Son of Man and so long as you see the rainbow strethching across the heavens there will be seed time and harvest and the son of Man will not come that year. [49]

Joseph Smith was born in the year 1805
85
1890

Franklin D. Richards "Scriptural Items"

On Sunday March 10 Joseph the Priest [50] delivered the following concernin the Spirits & Powers of Elias Elijah & of Messiah

The power of Elias is not the power of Elijah related the vision of his ordination to the priesthood of Aaron on the Susquehannah river to preach the preparatory gospel. This said the Angel is the Spirit of Elias

The spirit of Elias is to prepare the way for one greater to come

The spirit of Elijah is that degree of power which holds the sealing power of the Kingdom to seal the hearts of the fathers to the children & of the children their fathers not only on earth but in Heaven both the living & the Dead to each other for they (the dead) cannot be made perfect without us Heb 11-40

This power of Elijah is to that of Elias what in the architecture of the Temple of God those who seal or cement the Stone to their places are to those who cut or hew the stones the one preparing the way for the other to accomplish the work By this we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise ie Elijah

To obtain this sealing is to make our calling and election sure which we ought to give all diligence to accomplish [51]

there are two sins agains which this power does not secure or prevail they are "The sin against the Holy Ghost" And "shedding of innocent Blood" which is equivelant to "crucifying the Son of God afresh & putting him to an open shame" [52] Those who do these it is impossible to renew unto repentance for they are delivered to the buffettings of satan untill the day of redemptions [53]

illustrated the case of David said he could not obtain celestial glory and the reason why he had any hope or obtained a Promise that of his seed one should be raised up to reign over Israel forever was because that he had not spoken against the spirit & because he had not done this he was renewed unto repentance and obtained promise that God would not leave his soul in Hell [54]

Also spake of the rulers of the Jews & Peters preaching I wot (wish) that through ignorance ye did it as did those over whom ye ruled Acts 3-17 Peter did not preach repentance & Baptism but repent & be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of redemptions shall come from the presence of God Promised to treat upon the Spirit of Messiah some future time

A Revelation So long as we see the bow in the cloud seed time & harvest shall continue that year when the bow shall cease [55] then shall come famine wars &c after which the sign of the son of man shall be seen in heaven. [56]

Joseph Smith Diary, by Willard Richards

I attended meeting A M at the Stand by the Temple and preached on the Subject of the Spirit of Elias Elijah. Elias & Mes[si]ah clearly defining the offices of the 3 personages.

The Savior will not come this year. nor 40 yrs to come. The bow has been seen in the cloud & in that year that the bow is seen seed time and harvest will be. but when the bow ceases to be seen look out for a famine. [57]

Thomas Bullock Diary

Frost in the night—day most beautiful—went to the temple Joseph & Hyrum spoke. Joseph spoke on the Spirit of Elias the Spirit of Elijah and the Spirit of Messiah the Spirit of Elias is a forerunner same as John the Baptist—the Spirit of Elijah is the sealing power— to seal the hearts of the Fathers to the children—and the children to the Parents [58] as Paul declared that the Saints of the last days could not be perfect without them—neither can they be perfect without us [59]—the Spirit of Messiah is all power in Heaven and in Earth [60]— Enthroned in the Heavens as King of Kings and Lord of Lords [61]—the Rainbow is not to be seen—it is a sign of the commencement of famine & pestilence [62] &c &c and that the coming of the Messiah is not far distant—the Messiah will not come this year—upsets Millerites [63] the Messiah will not come for 40 years and he told the people to write [64] it a very large and attentive congregation—

John Solomon Fullmer Papers [65]

Prophesy delivered by President
Joseph Smith, March 10th 1844.

While enquiring of the Lord concerning the End of time, it was made known to him by the Holy Spirit, that there should be prosperity, seed time and harvest every year in which the Rainbow was seen, for to that was Noah refered as a surety on this subject,— But in the year when the Bow was not to be seen, would commence desolation, calamity and distress among the Nations, without seed time or harvest, [66]—And that the Revelation of the Son of Man from Heaven, would not be in this year, nor the next; [67] and he would say to his Millerite friends, that it would not be in forty years to come. He uttered all this in the name of the Lord, and said we should go home and write it—

J.S.F.

—10 March 1844

Notes

[1] See History of the Church, 6:249-54, and Teachings, pp. 335-41. The original source for the report of this discourse in History of the Church and teachings (with the exception of the introductory statement which is from the Joseph Smith Diary) is the Wilford Woodruff Diary. The accounts by James Burgess, Franklin D. Richards, Thomas Bullock, and John Solomon Fullmer are here published for the first time.

[2] Luke 1:17; Matthew 11:12-14. See also JST Matthew 17:10-14.

[3] D&C 13.

[4] Joseph Smith-History 1:72.

[5] Matthew 3:3.

[6] See note 2, this discourse.

[7] Mark 1:4.

[8] Matthew 3:11.

[9] See text of "Before 8 August 1839 (1)" after note 12 &. See also D&C 27:6-7; 77:9, 14; 110:12 for occasions when the title "Elias" is applied.

[10] Acts 8:5-20.

[11] Acts 19:1-6.

[12] D&C 124:145.

[13] See 27 August 1843, note 30.

[14] Malachi 4:5-6.

[15] Genesis 9:8-17 (see also JST Genesis 9:21-25); Malachi 4:1-6.

[16] Hebrews 11:40.

[17] See text of this discourse at note 13. & See also 27 August 1843, note 30.

[18] Alpheus Cutler. Incidentally, "Father" Cutler had received these blessings (see 27 August 1843, note 30).

[19] See 27 August 1843, note 30.

[20] 2 Peter 1:10. See 27 June 1839, note 11.

[21] Hebrews 6:1-2.

[22] Hebrews 11:40.

[23] 1 Corinthians 5:1-5; 1 Timothy 1:20. See also D&C 78:12; 104:10 (9-10); 132:26. The expression "buffetings of Satan" is not used in the King James Version of the Bible (see, however, 2 Corinthians 12:7).

[24] Hebrews 6:4-6.

[25] Confirmation of D&C 132:19, 26-27.

[26] Acts 2:25-29, 34.

[27] Although David was anointed a king by the Prophet Samuel, it was not, according to this teaching of Joseph Smith, after the order of the fulness of the Melchizedek Priesthood (see 1 Samuel 16:12-13). For this reason, when David ordered the murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 11), he did not commit the unpardonable sin.

[28] 2 Samuel 6:12-13, 17-19 does not mention whether David had an attending priest offer the sacrifices in his behalf, which would seem likely because David was not of the lineage of Levi. Nevertheless the Prophet seems clear that David held the priesthood. See also 2 Samuel 24:18-25.

[29] Concerning the David of the Last Days to rule in Jerusalem see 2 Samuel 7:8-29 (esp. v. 8-19); Ezekiel 34:23-25; 37:21-28; Zechariah 3; Isaiah 55:3-5; Jeremiah 30:4-9; Psalms 89:1-4; and D&C 113:5-6.

[30] Acts 2:29, 34.

[31] See 27 August 1843, note 30.

[32] In conjunction with making your calling and election sure, the Lord grants this privilege of asking and receiving. See JST Genesis 14:31 (26-32); Isaiah 65:24; John 21:20-23; Helaman 10:5 (4-10); 3 Nephi 28:1, 3, 10 (1-14); D&C 7:1 (1-8), 50:26-29; 76:55, 59 (51-61); 101:27 (cf. 27 June 1839, note 9); 124:95, 97; 132:40 (40–49).

[33] Thomas Reynolds (1796-1844) was a chief justice of the Supreme Court in Illinois before becoming the sixth governor of Missouri 1840-44. As governor he made several demands on the state of Illinois to extradite the Prophet Joseph Smith. He committed suicide 9 February 1844 in his executive office in Jefferson City, Missouri.

[34] 2 Kings 1:10, 12 (5-17).

[35] That is, the fulness of the priesthood. See 27 August 1843, note 30.

[36] 2 Corinthians 10:4 (1-4).

[37] Genesis 9:8-17; JST Genesis 9:21-25.

[38] William Miller (1782-1849) was founder of the Millerite movement. See 6 April 1843 (2), note 14.

[39] Matthew 24:36; D&C 39:21; 49:7.

[40] Only the Thomas Bullock report records the essence of what the Prophet meant in this statement: "The Spirit of Messiah is all power in Heaven and in earth [post-resurrection power of Christ in Matthew 28:18], enthroned in the Heavens as King of Kings and Lord of Lords [Revelation 17:14; 19:16 (11-16)]."

[41] No other account speaks so vividly of his intensity on this occasion—"I retired in the woods pouring out my soul in pray[e]r to Almighty God." (see D&C 13 and Joseph Smith-History 1:68.)

[42] Joseph Smith-History 1:72.

[43] Luke 3:16.

[44] Acts 8:5-20.

[45] Malachi 4:5-6.

[46] Hebrews 11:40.

[47] John 17:3. See text of the 13 August 1843 discourse, at note 19.

[48] 2 Samuel 11.

[49] This and the Franklin D. Richards' account are the most complete versions of this revelation from contemporary records.

[50] See 16 July 1843 (2) discourse, note 15.

[51] Cf. 27 June 1839, text at notes 6-12 . Regarding the Prophet's equating the sealing by the "Holy Spirit of Promise" to making your calling and election sure, see note 7 of discourse dated "Before 8 August 1839 (3)."

[52] Hebrews 6:4-6.

[53] See note 23, this discourse.

[54] Acts 2:25-29, 34.

[55] See text at note 49, this discourse.

[56] Matthew 24:30.

[57] See text at note 49, this discourse.

[58] Malachi 4:5-6.

[59] Hebrews 11:40.

[60] Matthew 28:18. Thomas Bullock is the only recorder of this discourse who identifies some aspect of the Prophet's understanding of the "spirit of Messiah." See next scripture referenced in note 61, this discourse.

[61] Revelation 17:14; 19:16 (11-16). See also Deuteronomy 10:17.

[62] See text at note 49, this discourse.

[63] See 6 April 1843 (2), note 14.

[64] Of the six contemporary accounts of this discourse, four of the reporters recorded this prophecy.

[65] The John Solomon Fullmer papers are located in the Church Archives.

[66] See text at note 49, this discourse.

[67] See 6 April 1843 (2), note 14.